Newsletter October

In this issue :
London Trip July 2011
Vol ume 4, Issue 1
German National Day
Autumn Edition
Jeans for Genes Day
European Languages Day
The Principal’s Points
Dear Parents ,
As I write this introduction we are all
coming to terms with the sudden and
tragic death of one of our new Year 7
students , Holly Austin. Holly was a bright,
strong-m inded student who was a good
friend to her peers. Our prayers and
thoughts go out to her parents, family and
friends.
I have been m oved by the response of our
School Comm unity. Students have
reacted with m aturity, sensitivity and
thoughtfulness that does them credit and
reflects their respect for Holly. Staff ha ve
worked hard to support students and each
other with great profess ionalism and
pragmatism.
We have com e together in assem blies to
consider the impact of the death of a
young person and prayed for her family.
When the time is right we intend to have
a living mem orial to Holly and students are
already subm itting their ideas. We have
stressed the need for s tudents to be safe
in their leisure tim e and minimise risk to
themselves.
Whilst we have been rightly proud of the
excellent examination results achieved by
students at GCSE and A Level, I am
equally proud than when the mem bers of
The Head’s
Can I extend a
w a rm
we lcome ,
from myself and all
of the staff at St
John’s ; to you at the
s tart of what we are
s ure will be another
exciting year. I hope
you will enjoy your tim e with us and find
the experience of living, working and
learning in Cyprus a pleasant one. We are
a small and friendly school and we consider ourselves to be at the heart of the
community. In a very real s ense my door
is always open and you are m ost welcome
to come and pay m e a visit any tim e.
It is always with regret though, that we say
goodbye to m any of our students and
their fam ilies during the summer months
and our warmest wis hes go with them
wherever they go. The other side of this
coin though is the pleasure we have at
welcoming new students and their fam ilies
to our community. I am s ure that your
Martin Ains worth
Principal
Lines
children will enjoy life in Cyprus and will
thrive in our small but vibrant school.
Dear Parents,
our School
Community are
tes ted in adversity
they show positive
personal qualities
and moral courage
to cope with s uch
challenges.
Before I get into what developments we
have planned for this year m ay I first offer
my congratulations to all of the students in
Yr11 and the 6th Form for their wonderful
exam results . It is always a pleasure to
watch the students opening their
envelopes on res ults day and seeing the
joy in their eyes. This year’s res ults were
impress ive and in all areas well above the
national average in the UK. Such res ults
are only possible due to the hard work of
the students , all of the s taff, and the
parents who supported their children
through their time with us. My thanks to
everyone involved. I look forward to
similar results at the end of this year.
As part of our efforts to create
Independent learners and to help you get
involved with your son’s or daughter’s
education throughout the year, we will
soon begin the work of developing our
Virtual Learning Environm ent. This is
called Moodle, and will be an internet
based resource through which your family
will be able to access a wide range of
educational resources and data such as
attendance figures, behaviour and
progress reports. You will be able to
access this via our s chool web page,
www.s tjohns cypr us.or g, whi ch also
contains a wealth of information about the
school and what we s eek to achieve for
your children. Please do take the tim e to
explore it.
So once more, welcom e to all our new
fam ilies , please keep in touch and work
with us and I have every confidence that
this will be another success ful year for all
of our students.
Andrew Arm strong
Vice Principal—Head of School
ST JOHN’S SCHOOL, Episkopi, Cyprus BFPO 53
Telephone: 00357 2596 3888 Fax: 0035725963708 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.stjohnscyprus.org
Page 2
St John’s Journal
Newsletter Team
A start to the school year brings many new and exciting things; one of those being the new newsletter team. The team
consists of 12 sixth formers ready to write, snap and report about all of the school's exciting events as well as interview
the many guests who come to visit.
There are many important jobs amongst the team, in charge and in control are Chloe Kinsella and Tom Garner, sharing
the role as editor. Nyle
March and Vicki Bell work
alongside them as their
deputy editors, an equally
demanding
job.
Reporting the news we have
Kate Treacy, Amy Budd,
Nyle March, Erin Mills, Josh
Dalzell,
Garner,
Scott Ferguson and Laura
Glover who take a great
deal of interest and pride in
giving you the biggest
and best stories they can.
Our
skilled
photographers, Nyle March,
Josh
Ireland, Josh Dalzell and
Jordan
Tom
highly
Yates,
Scott Ferguson will be
sure
memorable
complimenting the reports.
snapshots
to
Last, but not least we
have
takes minutes for the
meetings
take
Laura
and
some
Glover
who
keeps
us
informed of upcoming events. We look forward to sharing the fascinating stories on their way and we wish you the best
of luck throughout the year! See you in the news!
Reported By Tom Garner and Erin Mills
Welcome To Year 7
Once again the new school year brings a new class of Year 7s. In September, the pupils met their new tutors and attended
a few induction lessons to ease them into their new lives here at St Johns and were shown around their new ‘big’ school.
The huge jump from primary school to secondary school can sometimes be scary; more subjects, new teachers, countless
classrooms and monstrous amounts of homework! However, our new additions seem to have settled in perfectly and agree
that they enjoy St. Johns.
Emily McDonald stated, “I settled in well to high school and love P.E here. My favourite thing about high school is break
time where I can talk to all my friends and the tuck shop food is the best. I definitely prefer St. Johns to primary school”.
We hope that our Year 7s continue with this positive attitude throughout the whole school year and enjoy their time here!
Page 1
Welcome, 2 Yorks!
A new regiment, 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Q:What, if anything, do you miss about England?
Howards), has just joined us here in Cyprus . As new members
"I miss the shops which were a lot cheaper and being ab le to
of the school I wanted to hear how they settled in. I interviewed
walk everywhere. Now if I want to go anywhere I have to get
7 new students to see what they thought of St Johns and find
lifts from my parents."
out if they liked living in Cyprus .
"There was a lot more for young people to do in England, alQ: How long has the regiment been in Cyprus a nd where
ways somewhere to go, there isn’t that much to do here when it
did you move from?
gets too cold to swim."
"We have been in Cyprus for about 2 months and we moved
"I miss being ab le to go out without parents slathering sun
from Weaton Barracks in England. Weaton Barracks definitely
wasn’t as good as Cyprus we love it here. "
screen all over me."
"I miss my dog which I had to leave behind in England with my
"The sun and sea are great."
family."
Q: How have the 2 Yorks settled in?
Q:What would you like to achieve
whilst out here in Cyprus?
"I think we have settled in well. We have all made friends and
know our way around the school, FINALLY!"
Q:What do you like about Cyprus?
"I like the food and the weather, I can’t b elieve that it’s Octob er
and people are still going swimming in the sea and wearing
shorts and tee-shirts, if people were doing this in England we
would think they had lost their minds."
"We would like to join the club s here,
tak e part in water sports, b ecome
better swimmers, learn Greek and if
our parents let us, go paragliding!"
By Kate Treacy
Cartoonist : Rhiane Freeman-Cain 8CB/PB
"I like the ice cream van which stops right outside my house
every day, b ut it is making me eat more rubbish."
London Trip July 2011
The annual London trip was a hit once
universities from Essex to Oxford
ing on 'good old
again. The trip aims to provide students
Brookes but the one experience I won ’ t
Mum';
with a sense of independence and a
forget is going to 10 Downing Street
cooking,
readiness for student life at university.
which resulted in my appearance in a
cleaning,
For a couple of years now students have
popular magazine for “ planking ”
general hygiene
gone on the trip not having thought
outside the famous door!
and actually
seriously about going to university. After
the trip, students often have a moment of
clarity and decide it ’ s the path for them.
The trip included tours around several
I don ’ t consider myself as a theatre buff
but all the shows we went to see were
exceptional. In particular “ Woman in
Black" is highly recommended if you like
a chill down your spine!
The most enjoyable part
of our time in London
waking up on
time! All in all,
the London trip
did not
disappoint and I
completely recommend the trip to this
year ’ s Year 12.
and perhaps the most
beneficial, was the
Reported by Nyle March
opportunity to be
independent; we were
expected to fend for
ourselves without
rely-
S t J oh n’s Jou rn a l
Page 1
Maths Super Skills Challenge
Students from St John's School Year 7
t ook
and Akrotiri Primary School Year 6 met
everyone walked away
on the 28th September to mix and
having learned something new. All of
participate in a special Maths Super
the teams tried their best but there could
Skills Challenge afternoon. They were
only be one set of winners - Team
faced with code-breaking tasks to
Morse.
complete.
part
It was a challenging and
and
By Matt James 7AP/LB
exciting experience for everyone who
Can You Spot The Code?
T oday on the 28th of septE
E mber the year sixes from A krotiri school cA
A me to st.johN
N s to D o a T wo
session code solving prO
O ject with the yeA
A r S evens in ms linley's maT
T hs room.
By Abi Merrell 7FL/SW
Answer: TEA AND TOAST
German National Day
was also in
down. On Monday 3rd October the languages department reanacted this event.
With Year 4 pupils on one side of the
wall and our Year 8s on the other, they
lot of fun. Tschüs!
translates to tear down the wall! Then
Reporter: AmyBudd
man. Everyone got food and
the communist
drink to celebrate their free-
Germany to prevent people fleeing to the
dom,
West in search of a better life. The Berlin
beer was all gone!
many families; most Germans hated it. It
was graffitied and some tried to climb
over it, but those that did got shot.
However, in 1989, communism ended in
East Germany and the wall was knocked
event ’.
chanting ‘ Weg mit der Mauer ’ which
In 1961, a wall was built across Berlin by
into East and West Germany, separating
was a fun way to learn about the
Overall, everyone had a good time and a
learn more about each other in
Wall (Berliner Mauer ) split the country
oughly enjoyed the day and thought ‘ it
knocked down the ‘ Berlin wall ’ , whilst
everyone joined into groups of four to
government of East
Berlin at the time. The students thor-
but
unfortunately the
Mr Yates showed photos of
the wall being destroyed and
even had a piece of the wall!
Which we later learnt that Miss
Jackson took! She even got
arrested and held for ten minutes for it! Miss Cambridge
Ger-
Photographer: Scott Ferguson
Page 1
Jeans for Genes Day
Jeans for Genes day is an annual
October. Students paid €2 to wear
event held in the UK and in British
their jeans to school; they turned out
schools around the world to raise
in a rainbow of different colours, from
money and awareness for children
blue to bright pink leopard print! Y12
with genetic disorders. 1 in 25 children
put lots of hard work into organising
in the UK are born with a genetic
the day and making sure it ran
disorder, so money raised helps these
smoothly. Thomas Garner, Connor
children with any of their needs. This
Dodds, Josh Dalzell & Brett Nichols
gave an assembly to inform everyone
what Jeans for Genes is all about
from the whole school, we raised €827.61.
and what would be happening on the
We would just like to say a huge thanks to
day. Many of the staff and the girls
everyone who supported our event and
made amazing cakes and goodies
helped us raise so much money.
which were all sold in first break,
raising €225.70 alone! The ‘B utty
Boys ’ ran a chip butty stall which
Reported by Erin Mills
ran at both breaks and also raised a
year at St John ’s we wanted to beat
massive amount of dosh! Our target
last years record of raising €545.42
was
and we were very successful in doing
amazingly with the kind donations
to
rais e over €600
and
so. The day was held on Friday 7th of
The School Tuck Shop
The school tuck-shop sells a range of food and drink, available to everyone. They sell drinks such as juice cartons for 85
cents, Ice tea cans and milkshakes for €1 and most importantly, water for 50 cents!! If you’re hungry you can buy
sandwiches with a variety of fillings for €2, halloumi pies, pizzas, cheese and ham pies etc for
€1.50. The tuck-shop also sells Oreos, biscuits and fruit. If you want to know more just ask at
the tuck-shop! Alternatively, you could bring your own snacks to eat at break time.
The tuck-shop opens when you arrive at school and closes at the end of second break.
DON’T FORGET TO DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND DON’T GO HUNGRY!
St Jo hn ’s Jo u r na l
Page 1
Hello! Hallo! Bonjour! Yassoo!
On Monday 26th September our Modern Foreign Language Department gave Years 7, 8
and 9 a variety of activities to
celebrate European Languages Day; a day where
languages and cultural awareness are promoted. In and around school, students where
involved in showing their linguistic abilities under the beady eyes of Mr Yates and Miss
Cambridge. Events, such as multilingual bingo helped the students practice their
numbers in a range of different languages. For example, German, French and Greek.
In St John ’s , we promote languages on a large
scale to develop important skills and gain a
better
understanding
of
different
cultures.
Languages are promoted using fun activities and European Languages Day did
just that!
Overall, the day was a great success and was enjoyed by all those that took part.
The pupils were very willing to participate in every activity showing great
motivation towards learning. Due to the success of this day, it will, most definitely,
be repeated.
Reported by Josh Dalzell
Year 10 ASDAN
MOS/LE enjoy a magic show!
Year 10 ASDAN Employability students will
In the first week of term MOS/LE were treated to a show of
be safer in the workplace thanks to a new
magical prowess by Mr.Lawrence. It was a fun start to the day
qualification from The British Safety Council
and we recommend it to all!
which teaches young people about the
“ M r.Lawrence performed several tricks which he had learnt
hazards they face in their placement.
The Award in Workplace Hazard Awareness
is primarily aimed at 14-19 year olds and
provides students with crucial knowledge of
health and safety issues in the workplace.
In a highly practical programme, the students
put together personal portfolios covering a
range of topics such as hazards, safety
signs, personal protective equipment and
fire.
from observation. It was a really great show and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. ” Kathryn Monkcom and Laurel Walker
Page 1
Winners of School Bible Project 2011
Winners of School Bible Project 2011
Certificates of Merit
“
Those who have won Bibles
Georgia Shears
should know that this means their
Lauren Bishop
work was of an exceptionally high
Ardonnique Da Santos
standard. Those who have won
Jesus ’ life. The following students re-
Anna Wilmot
certificates of Merit or Special
ceived:
Sophie Doyle
Merit
Bible Prizes for work of a high standard
Rhys Davies
work, with essays that showed
Juliana Hemesley
Helen McVey
insight and understanding”.
Cameron Kavanagh
Callum PentonPenton-Voak
Kathryn Monkcom
JordanJordan-Leigh Ellis
Beth Liston
Megan Jarvis
Ciaran Grattan
Dan Hadden
As part of Celebrating RE Month we
entered this project for the first time.
Students had to imagine themselves as
eye-witnesses to one of five scenes in
also
produced
excellent
Mrs.J.Bogle (Chairman)
Well done to our imaginative
students! Ms O ’ S ullivan
Laurel Walker
Spencer Connor
Certificates of Special Merit
Georgia Spokes
Joe Ball
Samantha Rollo
Cliona Suggett
Spirited Arts
Again coming out of Celebrating RE
“ S pirited Arts was a really good experience! It was a really fun thing to do
month our ten entrants to the competition
and being able to express myself through Art was good and definitely
received beautiful certificates and we
something I want to do again. The certificates are really pretty and it is
congratulate them!
amazing that we were recognised for it!! ” Charlotte Roberts
Amy Caris
Sara Weaire
Ardonnique Da Santos Rachael Sanders
Charlotte Roberts
Dayna Howard
Ellie Norman
Georgia Shears
Jessica Storrie
Caileigh Canterbury
St Jo hn’s J ourna l
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Pupil Profile
In this issue our pupil feat ure stars
Kate Wilmot who is in Year 11! We
Least favourite subject ?
have interviewed Kate to find out about
ICT.
the life of one of St John’s School
students. Here is a selection of the
questions asked:
And lastly, if you could choose, where
would you live?
I think I would like to live
in Australia, or maybe
Who is your favourite teacher?
America.
Miss Thomas.
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I have one sister, Anna who
What is your favourite TV show?
is in Year 8.
I don’t really know, Doctor
Thanks for the interview Kate!
Who probably.
How long have you been in Cy prus ?
I have lived in Cyprus
for 9 years, 5 years in
Episkopi and 4 years in
Dhek elia.
What do you like to do in your spare
What is your favourite band?
Owl City.
What is your favourite food?
Pizza.
time?
I like to do acting, and also
What is your least favourite?
sports such as swimming.
Fish.
Favourite subject?
What is your favourite book?
Probably History.
Probably the ‘House of Night’
Reported By Amy Budd.
series.
Thank you to everyone that
entered the competition for
this issue!!!!!
Congratulations to the
winner,
Rhiane Freeman-Cain.
See her cartoon on page 3!
Page 1
Teacher Feature
Name: Mrs Cambridge
Subject: MFL
Years of teaching: 18
Secret pleasures: Spanish red wine and a
classic film
If a superhero: Wunder Frau
Having spent 10 years of her teaching career at St.
Cambridge described herself as a hardworking,
John’s, Mrs Cambridge expressed how privileged
confident and rather ‘cool’ kind of girl. However, we
she felt to be working here. “The school, although
appreciate that definitions of cool are somewhat
small, is excellent. Having small classes is a great
liberal. Although having two different careers
advantage as the kids really excel.” Prior to
neither was her desired job when growing up. Full
teaching, Mrs Cambridge had a short stint in
of ambition Mrs Cambridge dreamt of being an Air
Germany as an Au Pair; she explained how this
Hostess and travelling the world for free! Also at
had improved her German language skills and led
this time, calling it Puppy Love, Mrs Cambridge fell
her to teaching. When asked what the absolute
head over heels for a young Donny Osmond;
best thing about teaching was, Mrs Cambridge
however this did not last as her passion for
proclaimed “my lovely students!” She went on to
classical music left Donny in second place.
add that Mr Yate’s jokes and school trips abroad
Mrs Cambridge is one of those familiar faces
are also great perks of the job. Although she could
around school who is always more than happy to
not come to a conclusion about a worst part, it was
help. The fact that she always puts the students
mentioned that paperwork and meetings weren’t
first and really takes care in their learning is what
the most enjoyable of things. Going back to her
makes her such a great teacher.
days as a secondary school student, Mrs
Interviewed by Tom Garner
S t J oh n’s J our na l
Page 1
E-safety
Does your house have a digital
3. Encourage your family to use
ensure that moderate or strict filtering
device?
technology in a public part of the
is enabled.
The Internet is such an integral part of
children's lives these days. It opens
up so many educational and social
opportunities, giving them access to,
house and not in a bedroom. This
applies not just to pcs but also to
laptops,
game
consoles,
Internet
browsers on phones etc.
8. Adjust the security settings of your
browser and pc. For example, Apple
Macs allow users to change settings
in the parental control preference
quite literally, a world of information
4. Remember that many consoles
pane. Windows Vista and Windows 7
and experiences.
come
also have parental control sections.
Whether on a computer at school, a
laptop at home, a games console or
mobile phone, children and young
people are increasingly accessing the
Internet
whenever they
can and
wherever they are.
As you would protect your child in the
real world, you will want to make sure
that they are safe whatever they are
doing. Like learning to cross the road,
online safety skills are skills for life. If
your child understands the risks and
can make sensible and informed
choices online, they can get the most
from the Internet and stay safe whilst
doing so.
Try following these simple 10 Top
Tips:
with
family
settings.
For
example if you want to disable or limit
'Xbox Live' on an Xbox 360 you can
do so by going to 'Settings, Parental
controls'. There is also the option to
add a mask to voices so that a
youngster's voice sounds like that of
your pc at home and only give
yourself administrator access. This will
Explorer and Firefox come with their
own pop-up blockers. If you are
accessing a site that has a genuine
pop up window that you need to
access you should add it to the trusted
sites rather than turn off the pop up
blocker. The settings can be found in
software. Each user account can be
password protected.
2. Add a screensaver protected by a
password to your account so that if
you leave your pc for 5 minutes you
will have to enter your password. You
can do this in the 'Control Panel'.
be
publishing
Mobile phones
Cyberbullying
unfamiliar
e-mail
picious attachments. As far as possible you should encourage your child
to use the school ’s Learning Platenvi-
7. Ensure that your favourite search
engine is
set
up to do 'safe
searches'.
searches' This will make sure that a
search returns content suitable for all
ages. For example, to set Google to
do safe searches click on search
settings on the homepage and then
the
Social networking
6. Encourage your child not to open
from
in
awareness of:
Gaming
e-mails
articles
newsletter, aimed at raising parents
the 'Tools' menu of the browser.
ronment.
of
text them, discover what their games
Throughout this year we are going to
settings
installation
as a friend on a social networking site,
5. Use a pop up blocker. Both Internet
form as this provides a safer
the
10. Engage in their world – add them
consoles do etc.
allow you to keep control of the
and
date.
an adult or even a robot.
addresses and to avoid opening sus-
1. Set up an account for each user on
9. Keep virus protection software up to
Fact sheets will also be available on
the school website later in the term.
Page 1
September 2011 - July 2012 Cyprus
Autumn Term 2011
Spring Term 2012
Summer Term 2012
First day of term:
Mon 5 Septem ber 2011
Last day of Term :
Fri 16 December 2011
Half-term:
Mon 24 to Fri 28 October 2011
First day of term:
Tues 3 January 2012
Last day of Term :
Fri 30 March 2012
Half-term:
Mon 13 to Fri 17 February 2012
First day of term:
Mon 16 April 2012
Last day of Term :
Thurs 19 July 2012
Half-term:
Mon 4 to Fri 8 June 2012
Contact days
Autumn Term 1st half
35 day
Autum n Term 2nd half
35 days
Spring Term 1st half
29 days
Spring Term 2nd half
30 days
Summer Term 1st half
34 days
Summer Term 2nd half
29 days
Total staff days:
193 + 4 x 0.5
Total pupil contact days: 189
Training Da ys
Sept 5 is a designated training day for all schools
2 additional training days need to be designated
4 x half day training da ys need to be designated
St J o hn’s J ou r na l
Page 1
PROCEDURE FOR CHILDREN
WINTER UNIFORM SPECIAL
OFFERS
ABSENCE REPORTING
School Sweatshirt ( all sizes ) - €15
for 1, €28 for 2
If your child will not be attending
School Jumper (s izes 40 – 46 only ) €10
school for any reason please
inform the school as soon as
Now available to purchase from the
School Office
possible by either calling (2596)
SCHOOL PE KIT
8003 / 3888 after 0730 hrs or
PE Polo shirt with logo (York – Red,
Lincoln – Green ) : €10.00
Navy Blue PE shorts:
shorts €8.00
texting 97843894 at any time.
LEAVERS
Please make cheques payable to: St
John ’ s School
As soon as you know your leaving date
we would really appreciate it if you could
MEDICAL/DENTAL APPOINTMENTS
please inform the school straight away.
NEEDING TO TAKE MEDICATION IN
SCHOOL
If your child needs to take medication in
school on a temporary basis, i.e. pain
killers after injury, antibiotics, etc, please
complete the
‘Parental Request for
School to Administer Medication ’ f orm
which is available to download from the
school website www.stjohnscyprus.org
( g o to Community then Parents ).
This form needs to be taken by a parent
to the School Office along with the
medication. Students must not carry
medication with them unless a health
care plan has been completed. If your
All students in Years 7 – 11 must be
The Departure form is available to
collected by a parent or authorised
download from the school website
adult from the school office when leav-
www.stjohnscyprus.org or alternatively
completed, or you have any queries
please contact the school office on
regarding this, please contact Clare
( 2 596 ) 8026 / 3888 at any time. This
Chapman, Inclusion Manager, on ext
enables school records to be collated
8036 / 3888 or [email protected]
ing the school for medical/dental appointments
or any
other reason.
Please ensure that all students sign
themselves back in when returning to
school or coming in late.
child needs to carry their own medication
and a health care plan has not been
ready for parents to collect ( a signature
will be required ) .
SCHOOL NURSE
School Nurse: Bev Campion, In school every Tuesday for drop in 0950-10.10 or by appointment any other time. Tel/txt 96500282
07.30-13.30 Monday - Friday.
Date for your diary: Tuesday 1st November - 2nd HPV vaccine for Yr 8 girls
Remember to check School Website regularly for most recent updates of news and events pat St Johns
www. stjohnscyprus.org
Executive Editor: Fiona de la Hoyde-Brooks
6th form Newsletter Team:
Editors: Chloe Kinsella and Tom Garner
Deputy Editors: Nyle March and Vicki Bell
Reporters: Amy Budd, Josh Dalzell, Scott Ferguson, Annabelle Fuoco, Tom Garner, Laura Glover , Erin Mills, Kate Treacy, Nyle March, & David
Wilson
Photographers: Josh Dalzell, Scott Ferguson, Josh Ireland, Nyle March & Jordan Yates
ST JOHN’S SCHOOL, Episkopi, Cyprus BFPO 53
Telephone: 00357 2596 3888 Fax: 0035725963708 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.stjohnscyprus.org